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As the likes of Facebook and Twitter have gradually taken over an entire generation of social networkers it was really only a matter of time before Apple got in on the act. One thing that unites young people is their love of music, movies and TV, so it was always a logical progression that a social networking concept would be developed around an online media store. So, after the fanfare arrival at the recent Apple press release, how do you get Pinging?
Firstly, you’ll need to be running iTunes 10. You can do this on either a Mac or a PC, but the minimum requirements mean that older machines are unlikely to be able to run the software. On a Mac, you need a machine with an Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 processor and version 10.5 or later of the Mac OS X software. You’ll also need to be running Safari 4.0.3 as your web browser. If you’re running a Windows machine, it’ll need to have a 1GHz Intel or AMD processor and run Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, 32-bit editions of Windows Vista or 32-bit editions of Windows 7. If you don’t already have iTunes installed on your machine, you can download the software free at apple.com/itunes/download/ (http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/). If you do have iTunes, simply check for updates (click iTunes and select Check for Updates) and if your machine is compatible you’ll be prompted to download iTunes 10.
Once you’ve installed the software, open up iTunes, where you’ll be asked to confirm acceptance of the terms and conditions. You should now see the Ping button – and you’re ready to go!
The set-up process is very straightforward and you’ll be guided through each step rather like a conventional installation wizard that you get on many other applications. Firstly, you’ll need to enter your Apple ID and password and you’ll then be prompted to build a profile. This automatically pulls across the information that you already have stored in your Apple Account (like your name and address) but this can be edited if you wish. You’re also prompted to add a photograph, but this is subject to an approval process (for obvious reasons of ensuring nothing inappropriate is displayed). Reports suggest that this takes between 15 minutes and 2 hours to appear.
In the “Music I Like” section you’ll be asked to identify what sort of music you want to show as your favourites. Some genres may be pre-filled based on the sort of tracks that you already hold in your iTunes library but again you can revise this. You can only choose up to three, however, which many users will find rather limiting. You’ll then be asked to nominate ten albums that best represent the sort of music that you like. Again, ten selections are selected by default but there doesn’t appear to be a clear reason as to why these have been selected. It’s worth considering that you might be building a personal profile around what is, in essence, a shared resource. You can only have one profile associated with each iTunes library so bear in mind that it might present choices based on music downloaded by other users of the library!
You currently cannot connect Ping to other social networking sites, but there are rumours that plans are underway to link Ping with Twitter and Facebook. You’ll also be asked to decide what your friends are able to see on your profile. The default option enables them to see which music you like, review or have purchased/rated on iTunes. You can manually control this with another option, or you can turn this off completely.
The “Privacy Settings” allow you to control who can follow you. You can either allow everyone to see your profile, set it so that you have to authorise this on an individual basis or close your profile entirely. Click Done and your profile is ready to go!
By default, iTunes will take you to the front page of the Ping zone in the store, where it will suggest artists and other members that you might wish to follow. You can also send invitations to your friends via a special email link.
Given the relative youth of Ping it’s rather early to conclude how effective the site will be. But this aside, the set-up process is quick, simple and intuitive, even if many users will be puzzled by some of the preferences set based on the existing iTunes library.